Invitation

Material efficiency is considered one of the crucial solutions, to reduce European dependency on expensive raw materials. With regard to long-term competitiveness of European car industries, the threat of a lack of global playing field for resources is understood both by the industrials, and authorities European as well as national.

Innovation, collaboration, transparency, those are the key parameters required to reach optimal material efficiency in product life cycles. For carmakers, both an environmental and economic conscious product value chain is a prerequisite to survive in a highly competitive vehicle market.

Through a multidisciplinary approach, the automotive stakeholders representing the product chain are proactively taking action, aiming at closed cycles of products and materials.

It is against this background that the S_LIFE project (European Synergies and Co-operation for Sustainable vehicle along the Life-Cycle) has been initiated. It is the project's aim to strengthen the cooperation between European world-wide class clusters and to support them for developing new scientific, economic and structural coherent greening solutions along the automotive value chain.

During the last three years, the seven partners from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia and Belgium worked closely together to develop strategies, from the identification and evaluation of regional research & development potentials to a joint action plan for the activation, coordination and networking of resources and skills.

Furthermore, the S_LIFE project identified new technological approaches and solutions throughout the automotive product lifecycle - from material and design to manufacturing up to dismantling and recycling of various materials.

The S_LIFE Final Conference will take place on 6th November in the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union in Brussels. It will highlight and discuss the most important of S_LIFE achievements as well as future aspects of material efficiency along the automotive value chain.